FRIDAY's FAVE 5

1. The week started as usual with aqua gym and in the afternoon Nicole and I wanted to go for a walk and a coffee somewhere, but because of the rainy wet weather we decided to better stay home and drink our coffee in her living room.

2. The next day my so peaceful world was very much shaken. When I opened my newspaper on line I saw that something was wrong in Brussels. Mr. G. turned on the TV and there we saw the disaster. Probably the same pictures as you did, because journalists and cameramen came over from the whole world.

3. In Waterloo, we didn't notice anything, it was as peaceful as usual. But on TV we could follow the whole day what happened in Brussels minute by minute. My friend Ilona who had to go for a check up to a hospital in Brussels, arrived well there, wondered that the main door was closed and that she had to go through a side door. When she came out a hell had broken out. Ambulance after ambulance arrived in the hospital, Police and Military were everywhere, the whole public transport was cancelled, cars blocked, people couldn't leave Brussels. Finally she decided to walk home instead of sitting there in a little café and waiting that a miracle would happen. She walked and walked for 2 1/2 hours (she lives about 18 km from Brussels center) and finally stopped once outside and called her caughter who picked her up. At one moment the telephone broke down, too many people using their mobiles or smartphones. The provider had to open other wifi lines.

4.


I thought about going to Brussels and to "La Bourse" where all people gathered and had put flowers, candles etc but then I decided not to go there was already enough trouble and difficulties on the streets for people who had to go to work. I watched a little TV not the whole day anymore, and heard that there are still people missing and couldn't be identified, sometimes they only found body parts and it takes time to do all the DNA analysis.



The King and Queen visited the airport and metro station and also the hospital where the heavily injured victims are. They were very shocked when they saw the damages !

5. The main theme in my painting course was of course the attacks. Fortunately nobody had somebody injured amongst family and friends, but several sons and daughters were stuck abroad and couldn't fly home to Brussels. Some of them managed to land in the other two available airports in Belgium, and are now without their cars, because there is no access to the airport parking in Brussels. The main difficulties was to get home from Brussels in this mess, some people did like Ilona they walked until they were outside Brussels center and then called somebody to be picked up.
The public transports are still not all running and the city is congested.

We painted and tried to have some fun, to distract us, we can't change anything we have to learn to live with the fact that it can happen everywhere at any time.

more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

THE DAY AFTER THE BRUSSELS' ATTACKS

I think that everybody knows by now about the terrorist attacks in Brussels at the airport and in a metro station. Usually people are believed to be rather uncaring, everybody lives for himself. But when it comes to a tragedy, we get a completely different picture of the people who surrounds us.

After the attacks, it warmed my heart to hear and see how people helped each other. As the public transport was completely interrupted lots of people living outside Brussels couldn't get home or leave the city. Spontaneously transport propositions appeared on a special Facebook page and a phone n° was given on TV and Radio, where people could ask to be picked up and driven home by volunteers.

Lots of women offered to pick up children from day care or school in case the parents were stuck in Brussels until very late.

Hospitals and the Red Cross had to stop blood donors for the moment, there were so many who offered their  blood to help safe lives. They have to come back later

A bus driver stopped his bus when he saw a blind lady who seemed to be lost and helped her into the bus.

Others offered rooms for those who were stuck at the airport or elsewhere in Brussels and couldn't get home.

Brussels' Place de la Bourse became a focal point for grief, solidarity and resistance to Belgium's worst terror atrocity, as messages of support poured in from around the world on Tuesday night.
Old and young of all colors  held hands together.

They left flowers, candles and even beer bottles, while scores scrawled colourful measures on the paving stones, many in English, paying tribute to the victims and calling for love and unity.




Linking to Jenny's Warm heart Wednesday

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

more participants here

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Yesterday it had been a horror day in Brussels. You certainly have seen this terrorist attack on TV.

I too saw what happened the whole day in direct on TV. My friend Ilona unfortunately had to go to a Hospital in Brussels for a check up when the attacks had happened. She was stuck. She called me from a café, if I could pick her up, no bus, no train no public transport at all. Unfortunately I was blocked too, I couldn't help her as all streets to Brussels were closed and nobody was allowed to go into the city.

The poor girl walked for 2 1/2 h towards her home and then called her daughter to pick her up in a café when she had got out of the closed off zone. She told me that when sitting in the little café besides the hospital she saw countless ambulances arriving. It was scaring.

Nicole's granddaughter works for Coca Cola. As it is an American company the employees were asked not to leave the building. The whole area there around was also closed. She said that it had been a terrible day full of fear. To get home by car was very difficult, traffic jams everywhere.

That's all I have heard so far, but I haven't met people yet who work in Brussels.

BRUSSELS COMIC STRIP ROUTE

Brussels has a unique comic strip route. The route takes people along several walls in Brussels with big paintings of famous comic book heroes. Each time I go to Brussels I discover some more !

more participants here

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Two hours later after having published this post, the terrible attacks in Brussels took place.

We are fine, we live 15 km outside from Brussels and the only unusual thing I saw this morning were 3 police cars at the entrance to Waterloo coming from Brussels and going to Brussels. Otherwise the city was as usual, peaceful.

In Brussels it's still a big mess. There is no transport at all and people are blocked in Hotels, cafés, restaurants or friends. No bus, no tube, no tram no train. Cars were not allowed to drive into the center to pick up relatives or friends. My friend Ilona sits in Brussels in a café, and can't get home, she called me to pick her up, but I can not, because they won't let me into Brussels.

More news tomorrow

WEEKEND REVIEW March 19

Nicole has a friend since a long time and had presented me to her. So she invited us in the afternoon for a coffee with a self Charlotte cake.



It tasted delicious !



I took some pictures of her living room, because it took me back in time, it's so unusual now to find such old and cosy furniture with a lot of souvenirs from all corners of the world. Most of the people's interior had been modernized not to talk about the younger generation where the fashion is to be "zen" and the whole room is in brown/grey, black/white, or dark grey/white. I personally find it sad and not cosy at all ! Even old restaurants which kept their outside from hundreds of years ago, became "zen" inside !

On our way back we heard in the radio that the special police unit had just captured the terrorist Salah Abdeslam, they were looking for for 4 months in the whole world ! After the Paris attacks he had returned to Brussels and apparently never left ever since.



So we were spoiled again with the most dramatic pictures on TV. The whole event took in total 3 hours, but on TV it lasted the whole evening and after half an hour we watched a recorded movie, we had enough. The whole thing was repeated again the next day.

We all hope that this is finished now, it gives a very bad image for Brussels and the tourist sector is again affected. Today it's all peaceful in the streets except the curious who want to see the "crime scene". Brussels/Molenbeek becomes a SPA town. Meanwhile Salah Abdeslam is in Bruges high security prison and refuses to be transferred to France, unfortunately for him he is French.

On Sunday morning it was again cold and grey and my energy level dropped to 0 ! I wanted to go to the midi market as I haven't been there since last year, but this cold just paralyses me !